Jurassic World Just Became One Of Four Films In History To Reach Box Office Milestone

Here’s how you can tell Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World has earned a stupid amount of money since opening back in June. If you deduct all of the money that Jurassic earned in the United States from its total gross, the dino-sized sequel still could claim it passed the $1 billion mark… and that distinction puts it into some rarified air.

THR reports that Universal’s monstrous sequel/franchise reboot has crossed the $1 billion mark in overseas haulings, pushing its overall cume to $1.64B. That’s because Trevorrow’s blockbuster has raced past the $646-million mark in domestic tickets sold, making it the highest grossing U.S. film released so far this year. Trevorrow’s dinosaur dance sits above Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron ($457 million domestically), James Wan’s Furious 7 ($351 million) and Pete Docter’s Inside Out ($348 million) at the top of the domestic box office for 2015.

Oddly enough, however, Jurassic World isn’t the ONLY film released this year that has been able to earn more than $1 billion at the international box. Furious 7 also accomplished that earlier this year, proving how strong the sequel and its stars continue to draw in foreign markets. You can understand why Universal is eager to keep the brand going with Fast 8 (and beyond). But right now, Jurassic World and Furious 7 join a very short list of only four movies in history that were able to cross the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales alone… and the other two both belong to James Cameron:

Seeing as how Furious 7 and Jurassic World are both Universal titles, you can understand why the studio is experiencing a monumental, record-shattering year. Thanks to the success of both of the above titles, as well as the animated smash Minions, Universal passed the $6 billion mark in global tickets sold this past weekend, which THR notes is "by far the biggest showing in history for a Hollywood studio." And, of course, we’re still waiting for one more massive shoe to drop this year, a movie that could drastically shape the narrative of 2015’s box office story:

If nostalgia, curiosity and positive word-of-mouth powered the fourth Jurassic World movie to record-shattering heights, what then is the ceiling for the seventh Star Wars picture? I only wish that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a Universal title, because I’d love to see one studio cross the $10 billion mark globally. Force Awakens opens on December 18… and that’s when things will get really, really interesting.